The car industry was as terrified by the coup as the others

Yesterday was bad, Elon Musk could soon be the richest man in the world on paper and rhodium. All this and much more in Morning change for January 7, 2021.

I’d say yesterday was one of the worst days in American history, but everyone has already said that. It’s too much credit for a bunch of nobles anyway. Keep calm and the car running, as they say.

1st Gear: Auto People React

GM CEO Mary Barra wrote on Twitter:

Ford CEO Jim Farley also wrote on Twitter:

U.S. Eastern Michigan District Attorney (who prosecuted him The UAW corruption scandal) also posted on Twitter:

UAW President Rory Gamble made a statement:

And the National Producers Association weighed in, because everyone was waiting for what the National Producers Association had to say:

All of this will soon be a distant memory, and you will have the feeling that it will always end like this, with a cheap and useless crime that has temporarily delayed adults from carrying out their tasks. Four people have been reported now dead.

Second speed: car sales are bad in Europe

The reason is the pandemic. Aside from a bunch of nobles assaulting the Chapter, we still have a pandemic to worry about.

from Bloomberg:

Registrations fell by about 25% last year in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain, the top five European countries that buy cars, according to industry associations and transport ministries. The rebirth of Covid-19 has prompted several governments to re-implement blocking measures that could lead to demand in early 2021.

New car registrations in Germany fell by about 20% in 2020, based on preliminary data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority, which will post detailed figures on Friday. Figures released earlier this week show that sales fell 32% in Spain, 29% in the UK, 28% in Italy and 25% in France. The UK Automotive Trade Group said the country’s decline was the worst since 1943.

The data show the oversized impact that the coronavirus had last year on the automotive industry in Europe compared to China and the US, where buying cars was more resilient. The continuing weakness in demand poses a risk to the eurozone economy, which relied heavily on the manufacturing sector to make a recovery in the second half of last year.

“We are in a deep crisis,” Pierre-Louis Debar, head of statistics for the French car industry group CCFA, said in an interview. “It’s wider than anything we’ve seen in the past.”

Third step: Rhodium? Rhodium!

Rhodium is used in catalytic converters and many countries are worried about cleaning the air these days. This has increased the price of pomegranate.

from The Financial Times:

Car companies in Europe and China are increasingly using rhodium to comply with tougher clean air legislation, while supply from South Africa, the largest producer, has been disrupted by the spread of Covid-19.

Aided by China’s economic recovery, the world’s largest auto market, reference prices for rhodium reached a record $ 17,790 an ounce, up more than 200 percent from its March 2020 low. Rhodium is worth almost half a million pounds.

“You have a massive battle for metal” by car companies, said Nicholas Hops, co-manager of the Coronation Resource Fund. “If you don’t have enough rhodium, you can’t comply with emissions legislation and we know how drastic these fines are.”

4th Gear: Elon Musk

Tesla’s value on paper is huge, or over $ 700 billion. Ford’s value, for context, is about $ 34 billion. On paper, Tesla’s value has CEO Elon Musk almost the richest person in the world.

from Bloomberg:

A 2.8% rally in the stock price of the electric vehicle manufacturer on Wednesday boosted Musk up to $ 3 billion on Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, who currently ranks highest in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the richest people in the world.

The net worth of the South African-born engineer was $ 181.1 billion on Wednesday, just to the shyness of Bezos, who has held the top spot since October 2017. As chief executive of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. or SpaceX, Musk is also a rival to Bezos, owner of Blue Origin LLC, in the private space race.

The 12-month deadline for Musk is extraordinary. In the last year, its net worth has increased by more than $ 150 billion, probably in the fastest period of wealth creation in history. Feeding its growth was an unprecedented rise in Tesla’s share price, which rose 743% last year due to consistent profits, inclusion in the S&P 500 index and the enthusiasm of Wall Street and retail investors.

Elon’s pay is mostly tied in stock this may or may not materialize, depending on the future of Tesla. But it’s always nice to be the best at something.

Fifth Speed: Model Y sales in China are high

There is waiting time for the car, which has practically met the expectations in terms of sales. The expectations were huge.

from Bloomberg:

A basic version of the electric vehicle purchased now will be delivered in the second quarter, and a performance variant in the third quarter, the Tesla website said. When Tesla announced the price last week and began sales, it said deliveries would take place this month.

A strong start for the vehicle would be an advantage for Tesla, as it tries to maintain its leading position in the premium segment over rivals such as Nio Inc. and the company set the price of the vehicle below other brands to maintain a competitive advantage.

“Based on the order input and our production plan, we adjusted the Model Y delivery time for the last orders to the second quarter,” a Tesla representative told WeChat on Thursday.

Reverse: balloon? Ball!